Future Impact v3 and now V4

[Quatschmacher]

49 minutes ago, AinsleyWalker said:

I know it's been discussed here previously, but I've been away a while and can't find what I'm after in here - advice on hooking up an expression pedal? (I've got a FI v1 running v.3.60). Do I need to use a midi controller to send the right CC message to control the right parameter (IE: cutoff) ?

It’s all detailed in the MIDI Implementation section of the user manual and in the section on Flexi Controllers.

 

You’ll need something like Panda’s 4Control, Mortrix, Morningstar or other controller. Then on the controller, you need to have the pedal send out whatever CC you like/need. There are standard mappings for stuff like filter cutoff, LFO depth etc. Most of my presets use CC1 as a source for morphing/variations. 

Edited September 20 by Quatschmacher

[Quatschmacher]

Sad that I’m not at the show (operation on Monday).

 

Mini and MIDI FI is here!

 

Edited September 27 by Quatschmacher

[Al Krow]

Oh that is a very neat compact version of the FI! Is at a @GisserD enclosure?

 

Good luck with the op on Monday!

[Quatschmacher]

37 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Oh that is a very neat compact version of the FI! Is at a @GisserD enclosure?

 

Good luck with the op on Monday!

No, it’s Panda’s design in collaboration with me. 
 

Thanks, not looking forward to it but needs must. 

[Al Krow]

18 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

No, it’s Panda’s design in collaboration with me. 
 

Thanks, not looking forward to it but needs must. 

Oh I completely missed that happening. When did it / will it come out? Any differences between the larger and more compact pedals?

[Quatschmacher]

38 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Oh I completely missed that happening. When did it / will it come out? Any differences between the larger and more compact pedals?

Only difference is in the housing size.

 

This is its first public appearance, though there was a bit of garnering of opinions earlier in the year.

 

I haven’t been told a release date for the enclosure yet. The firmware with MIDI should be soon though, some further testing to make sure it’s bug-free and I need to update the manual. Won’t be able to do anything next week as I won’t be able to sit up for more than about 10-20 minutes at a time for about a week or so after the op. 
 

 

[Owen]

I hope the op goes well. 

[Quatschmacher]

Forgot to mention, the mini housing is 12x8cm and made of aluminium, so just over half the size of the original and just as sturdy. 
 

I anticipate these will outsell the bigger version. 

Edited September 28 by Quatschmacher

[LukeFRC]

It looks really cool - like a 21st century update - nice colour too

[Quatschmacher]

On 28/09/2024 at 15:54, Owen said:

I hope the op goes well. 

Thank you. 

[prowla]

On 09/06/2024 at 16:04, Quatschmacher said:

I haven’t seen a single person who’s bought one complaining. They all seem to very much enjoying making music with their pedal and singing its praises. 

I had one, a v2 or v3, but I didn't receive a satisfactory response when I raised a technical query, which frankly put me off.

The pedal itself is large (for the retro look); there was someone doing a smaller housing, but it left one knob really close to one of the footswitches and so wasn't 100%.

I ditched it and bought a C4.

[Quatschmacher]

35 minutes ago, prowla said:

I had one, a v2 or v3, but I didn't receive a satisfactory response when I raised a technical query, which frankly put me off.

The pedal itself is large (for the retro look); there was someone doing a smaller housing, but it left one knob really close to one of the footswitches and so wasn't 100%.

I ditched it and bought a C4.

Presuming you might be talking about MIDI PC numbers. If so, let’s not beat that dead horse again. 😀

 

The new official mini housing is almost half the size of the original unit and even smaller than Darren’s 3D-printed one. See picture I shared a couple of days ago. 
 

[prowla]

26 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Presuming you might be talking about MIDI PC numbers. If so, let’s not beat that dead horse again. 😀

 

The new official mini housing is almost half the size of the original unit and even smaller than Darren’s 3D-printed one. See picture I shared a couple of days ago. 
 

Yep - dead but not forgotten (0/10 for customer support). 🤨

It's just you said "I haven’t seen a single person who’s bought one complaining.".
The mini housing looks like it still has a control knob right next to a footswitch.

[Quatschmacher]

1 hour ago, prowla said:

The mini housing looks like it still has a control knob right next to a footswitch.

The switches are on raised sides so, like other similarly designed pedals, provide clearance between the switch and encoder. 

Edited September 30 by Quatschmacher

[GisserD]

1 hour ago, prowla said:

Yep - dead but not forgotten (0/10 for customer support).

 

I don't think that reflects the true nature of Pandas support at all. Peter (on behalf of panda) is super responsive and helpful on many forums and goes out of his way to help people even when they haven't read the manual.

 

Just because you don't like an answer does not mean the support is bad. If I recall the PC debate correctly it was your misunderstanding and inability to understand what actually was going on that was the main problem. Not the support. 

[Quatschmacher]

1 minute ago, GisserD said:

goes out of his way to help people even when they haven't read the manual.

😆 This has happened so very often.

[Al Krow]

2 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

The switches are on raised sides so, like other similarly designed pedals, provide clearance between the switch and encoder. 

 

Have to fess that @prowla's issue about the proximity of the right foot switch to the encoder was very much the one concern I had about the more compact design, which does otherwise look great! The worry is that in a live situation it would be easy to angle your foot wrong and snap the encoder switch.

 

I can see why you've gone for that design, though: you've basically taken the exact layout of the existing pedal circuit board (which makes complete sense!) and put it in a smaller housing.

 

When you say similarly designed pedals - can you think of others that have a similar layout with stomp switch right next to a dial switch?

 

Hmmm...may need to rethink moving on my current housing v4, while this one gets a bit more road testing to see if this is actually going to be a real problem or just an imaginary one!

Edited September 30 by Al Krow

[Quatschmacher]

28 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

Have to fess that @prowla's issue about the proximity of the right foot switch to the encoder was very much the one concern I had about the more compact design, which does otherwise look great! The worry is that in live situation it would be easy to angle your foot wrong and snap the encoder switch.

 

I can see why you've gone for that design, though: you've basically taken the exact  layout of the existing pedal circuit board layout (which makes complete sense!) and put it in a smaller housing.

 

When you say similarly designed pedals - can you think of others that have a similar layout with stomp switch right next to a dial switch?

 

Hmmm...may need to rethink moving on my current housing v4, while this one gets a bit more road testing in the field and seeing if it's actually a problem or just an imaginary one!

I had suggested a protective canopy or wall for the encoder but that was met with reluctance. The raised sides was the next idea I had for putting distance between the encoder and switch whilst shrinking the footprint to as small as possible. The layout of the circuit obviously made certain changes impossible.

 

Many folks will be triggering via a controller anyway so won’t be an issue for those people.

 

I used the Beat Buddy and Line 6 One as examples when I was suggesting raised parts.

 

One could add a wide footswitch topper to further reduce clumsiness.  

[prowla]

1 hour ago, GisserD said:

 

I don't think that reflects the true nature of Pandas support at all. Peter (on behalf of panda) is super responsive and helpful on many forums and goes out of his way to help people even when they haven't read the manual.

 

Just because you don't like an answer does not mean the support is bad. If I recall the PC debate correctly it was your misunderstanding and inability to understand what actually was going on that was the main problem. Not the support. 

That is absolutely incorrect.

I have worked with binary data in networking, C development, and other areas (including designing a processor at Uni) and fully understand the issue.

The issue is that there is an inconsistency across MIDI implementations, whereby some interpret the numbering to be 1-128 (ie first to 128th) whilst others use 0-127 (7 bits binary 0000000 to 1111111).

Some devices have built-in handling of this; for example the MIDIBuddy has a 127/128 dip switch.

 

 

My support request was whether this was or could be supported on the FI.

I was told no and it's not Panda's fault the others have got it wrong.

You are right though that I did not like that answer.

[Woodinblack]

4 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

The new official mini housing is almost half the size of the original unit and even smaller than Darren’s 3D-printed one. See picture I shared a couple of days ago. 
 

 

Ooh I missed that - if it is now in a good sized box I am interested again, where is that available?

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

😆 This has happened so very often.

 

I don't know the issue here (and probably don't want to), but the job of support is largely explaining the manual or how to do things to people. Its a pain, but it is part of the job, even if the manual is good, which it often isn't.

I spent a large part of saturday trying to understand the Boss ME-90B manual, I worked it out in the end but the manual was no help at all.

[prowla]

33 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

I don't know the issue here (and probably don't want to), but the job of support is largely explaining the manual or how to do things to people. Its a pain, but it is part of the job, even if the manual is good, which it often isn't.

I spent a large part of saturday trying to understand the Boss ME-90B manual, I worked it out in the end but the manual was no help at all.

If you're referring to my old issue: it's not an RTFM matter and I don't see mention of it in the marketing info.

 

 

Edited September 30 by prowla

[GisserD]

1 hour ago, prowla said:

That is absolutely incorrect.

I have worked with binary data in networking, C development, and other areas (including designing a processor at Uni) and fully understand the issue.

The issue is that there is an inconsistency across MIDI implementations, whereby some interpret the numbering to be 1-128 (ie first to 128th) whilst others use 0-127 (7 bits binary 0000000 to 1111111).

Some devices have built-in handling of this; for example the MIDIBuddy has a 127/128 dip switch.

 

 

My support request was whether this was or could be supported on the FI.

I was told no and it's not Panda's fault the others have got it wrong.

You are right though that I did not like that answer.

So you ask a question, don't like the answer and give 0/10 for customer support.

Nice.

[Quatschmacher]

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

I don't know the issue here (and probably don't want to), but the job of support is largely explaining the manual or how to do things to people. Its a pain, but it is part of the job, even if the manual is good, which it often isn't.

I spent a large part of saturday trying to understand the Boss ME-90B manual, I worked it out in the end but the manual was no help at all.

I wasn’t griping. Though I’m not actually paid to do support; I do it off my own back. 

[Quatschmacher]

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Ooh I missed that - if it is now in a good sized box I am interested again, where is that available?

It’s not yet available. It was just shown at the trade show.